Technical Field of the Disclosure
The present embodiment relates in general to the field of tie down devices. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a tie down strap system for securing a vehicle safely to a truck/trailers.
Description of the Related Art
The loading and conveying of many types of modern automobiles upon the beds of trucks/trailers entails the risk of damage to various areas of the modern motorcycle, the transport medium, and even the individual loading the motorcycle. This necessitates securing the vehicle in a manner that keeps it safely attached to the transport medium while minimizing or eliminating damage to the vehicle.
Conventional vehicle tie down devices used for transporting vehicles such as motorcycles on truck/trailer beds include tie down straps that are used to hold down cargo or equipment during transport. Such tie down straps are conventionally employed to attach to the handlebar of the vehicle being transported, loop over the vehicle, and/or attach to the vehicle. The straps attached to the handlebar may result in bending of the bars during transit and result in damage to the fairing during tie down. Also, when the straps attached to the central steering portion of the handlebar, it may cause obstruction to the view of the driver of the transport medium.
Some of the tie down straps are constructed from high quality webbing and have hooks on each end to secure the strap to an anchor point on the truck or trailer, even though these hooks may cause scratching of the paint on the top portion of the cab of the at least one transport medium. Some of the existing systems provide a quick disconnect motorcycle tie-down system having a female quick disconnect coupler attached to one end of a tie down strap, used to connect to a male coupler fitting machined as the end of an attachment bolt affixed either inside the open end of the handlebar, or threaded into the motorcycle frame or frame component. Although the quick disconnect coupler system provides the fastest means of attaching the tie down strap in a metal-to-metal connection positive lock, the tie down strap can become loose and slide around in the back of the truck. When the motorcycle is loaded there is no way for an average or even above-average sized human to reach all the way down to the other side of an average sized motorcycle and grab the strap, which is on the floor of the bed of the truck which makes it difficult for a user to attach the tie down strap to the truck.
Various other tie down devices are currently available, but none of these devices allow the user to reach the straps easily while holding the motorcycle simultaneously. Another difficulty is that the user has to stretch and reach the straps which causes the suspension of the truck to flex due to the weight of user, thereby making it even more likely to tip over and injure the user. Another disadvantage of the tie down straps is that the user needs to bend down the other side of the vehicle being transported so as to grab the strap while tying the strap to the transport medium.
Therefore, there is a need for a tie down strap system for securing a vehicle safely to at least one transport medium. Such a tie down strap system would be adapted to secure the vehicle to the at least one transport medium without causing damage to the fairing or other parts of the vehicle. Such a tie down strap system would include an attachment means to attach straps to a top portion of a cab which would allow a user to reach the straps easily while holding the vehicle simultaneously. This tie down strap system would secure the vehicle to the at least one transport medium without causing bending of the handlebars or other damage to the motorcycle. Such a tie down strap system would include a magnetic material in at least one portion of the tie down strap assembly that allows the tie down strap to easily attach to the backside of the cab of the at least one transport medium. This tie down strap system having the magnetic material would allow the straps to stick on the top or side portion of the cab and thereby enable the user to easily reach the straps without bending towards the vehicle while securing the vehicle to the at least one transport medium. Further, such a tie down strap system would not require the user to reach over the vehicle for the straps, and thus protects the user from being injured. The present embodiment overcomes the existing shortcomings in this area by accomplishing these objectives.